Former SAC Capital Advisors portfolio manager Mathew Martoma forged a Harvard transcript and was expelled from Harvard Law School.
Though the revelations date back to 1999, the prosecutors sought to use the evidence in the trial of the former portfolio manager.
Martoma created false transcript
Mr. Martoma was expelled from Harvard in 1999 for creating a false transcript when he applied for a clerkship with a federal judge, court papers unsealed on Thursday revealed. The former portfolio manager used a computer program to change several grades from B’s to A’s, including one in criminal law, and then sent the forged transcript to 23 judges as part of the application process.
Subsequently, during a Harvard disciplinary hearing to determine whether he should be expelled, Mr. Martoma tried to cover his tracks by creating a fake paper trail that included fabricated emails and a counterfeit report from a computer forensics firm that Mr. Martoma had created to help conceal his activities.
Martoma accused of using inside information
Martoma, a former manager at SAC’s Intrinsic unit, is accused of using insider information on clinical trials of an Alzheimer’s disease drug to earn a profit and avoid losses for a combined benefit of at least $276 million. Martoma has pleaded not guilty.
Last month, SAC Capital Advisors LP’s Michael Steinberg became the fund’s longest serving manager to be convicted of insider trading in a U.S. victory that may increase pressure on his accused one-time colleague, Mathew Martoma, to cooperate in the probe of founder Steven A. Cohen.
Martoma’s lawyers on Thursday lost a battle to keep the facts surrounding Martoma’s expulsion from Harvard Law out of his insider trading trial. Martoma’s lawyers had fought all the way to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to keep the papers secret, arguing he would suffer embarrassment and his right to a fair trial would be violated. The 2nd Circuit denied his appeal Wednesday.
The disclosure of Mr. Martoma’s expulsion from Harvard came as a jury of seven women and five men was seated for his trial after two days of selection. Lawyers for the prosecution and defense are expected to deliver opening statements on Friday in a Lower Manhattan federal courtroom. The trial is expected to last four weeks.
